The World We Live In
by Mmmilkovich
Summary: Slow build Richonne fic. Picks up a little after episode 4.04 "Indifference". Rick POV. " "It was the right thing to do." Rick looked immediately over at her, having not expected the softness in her voice. She was watching him too. He shook his head again. "Maybe it wasn't my call to make." This time it was her turn to sigh. "Maybe not." " Rated M for future scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own these characters. But I wish I did. **

**This takes off just a little after where episode 4.04 "Indifference" ends off. **

Michonne knocked on the open door of the guard tower. Rick had heard her climbing the stairs and had waited silently, not knowing how he knew it was her. She looks down questioningly at him where he sits on the floor, his back against the wall and his elbows on his bent knees. He nods once and turns to look back out the large windows. Michonne walks through the doorway and sits down next to him, leaving a few feet of space between them.

He sighs and hangs his head.

They sit in silence for a few moments. So many things are swirling around Rick's mind that he doesn't even realize that the silence isn't awkward. It was late evening now and Rick had returned to the prison, without Carol, several hours ago. At the time Daryl, Michonne and the others hadn't yet returned from their run. Rick had sat for over an hour at the spot where the ashy remains of the pig pen were, just watching the walkers at the fence. The whole time he had spent questioning his decision of making Carol leave.

He felt a huge wave of relief when he heard their car driving up the road and stood as he watched the nearest people to the fence open the gate. This relief was drowned by dread when he saw Daryl step out of the passenger's seat of the van. Michonne, he saw, was fine. He felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders he didn't know was there.

The conversation with Daryl had not been great. Rick had told him right there what he had done, although waiting for Tyreese to head into the prison before telling him why. Daryl had glared at him through his greasy bangs, but said nothing. Michonne watched the conversation as she leaded against the hood of the van. Rick stepped forward, hoping to say something consoling to Daryl for what he had done, but Daryl walked off without a word. Rick saw that his grip was extremely tight around the strap of his cross bow.

Since then Rick had been sitting here, alone, in the guard tower. Had he done the right thing, kicking her out of the group? Carol had been with them longer than he had, even. He sighed and shook his head, bringing one of his hands to run through his hair.

"It was the right thing to do."

Rick looked immediately over at her, having not expected the softness in her voice. She was watching him too.

He shook his head again. "Maybe it wasn't my call to make."

This time it was her turn to sigh. "Maybe not."

They fell into silence again. Then, as though reading his thoughts she continued, "Daryl will understand, eventually."

"I doubt it."

"Then he'll get over it." Michonne catches his eye again. "This is the world we live in. He'll get that."

They both watch the still tree tops through the window. The sky is a soft grey-blue, just before dusk. Rick tears his mind away from the events of today.

"How was your run? Find what you were looking for?"

Michonne shrugged. "We found most of the stuff on Hershel's list, not all of it though. Hershel's just sorting through it all now." She doesn't ask how his run went.

"So I guess you're heading out again." It wasn't really a question.

Michonne blinks and looks down. "Actually, no. I think I'm going to stick around for a while." She throws a half glance at him, the corners of her mouth turning up in a little smile, "If you'll have me that is."

Rick might've laughed. Instead he returns her weak smile with his own and nods. "We're happy to have you."

A still moment passes where they just stare at each other, and Rick thinks he feels an understanding passing between them. They both understand that they need this place, and the people here. This makes his chest feel a little less tight.

She makes to get to her feet. As he watches her stand he says "So you wouldn't have done the same thing as Carol? Kill them, I mean."

This makes her pause. They look at each other for a long time. Finally she answers. "I hope that I wouldn't." With that she turns and leaves.

Xxx

The medicine seems to be helping. Only three people have died from this flu in the past week and the others seem to be gaining some of their color back. Daryl hasn't spoken much to Rick, though he hasn't been hostile towards him either. He thinks back to Michonne's words and starts to believe them. This is the world they live in.

Michonne has remained at the prison as she had said she would, though Rick hasn't really spoken with her since their conversation in the watch tower. He catches her eye every now and again while doing chores or during meals, and they nod to each other and carry on what they are doing. Rick notices that she and Daryl spend much of their time together. He can't say why this frustrates him.

He has walked by her cell several times, truthfully more times than was necessary. He told himself that he was allowed to be curious about her, this strong woman he knew so little about. She hadn't hung up a sheet or towel over her barred door like so many others, and several times he's caught sight of her doing sit-ups or push-ups. He walked quickly past without saying anything.

Rick noticed that Carl had taken to following her around during the day and this made him want to chuckle. She didn't seem to mind though.

Today Rick was in the field. He didn't hear her come up and started when she greeted him hello.

"Jesus," He almost laughed, "You scared me."

She shrugs and sits down on the grass near where he was working. "Sorry."

Rick straightens his back and leans against the hoe in his hands. He looks at her and waits, expectantly.

Michonne clears her throat. "So Carl's been asking about how I learned to use my sword. Seems pretty keen on learning it himself." She looks up at him, squinting through the afternoon sun.

"Oh." Was all Rick says.

She doesn't say anything.

"So, you've come here to ask if you can give my son sword-fighting lessons?"

She nods once.

He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "I don't see a problem with it."

She nearly smiles. "Good, because I found him a sword last time I was near the city. Not as good as mine but it'll do." Michonne picks absentmindedly at the blade of grass under her hand. "I was thinking you could give it to him."

This surprises him. "Me, why me?"

She doesn't look at him and continues to pick at the grass. "My dad gave me mine. I guess…" She gives a great sigh, "I just think it would mean more, coming from you."

Rick watches her. He knows this makes her uncomfortable but he doesn't care. He is so used to the closed off, quietly brooding woman he has come to know that hearing her talk about her past startles him. Of all the people in the prison, she was the one who seemed born into this world. He had never stopped to think about her days before this had all happened. Rick felt guilty about that now.

Michonne looks awkwardly around and stands up. "I'll bring it by your room later then, once Carl's gone to sleep. You can give it to him tomorrow." Michonne turns and leaves him alone in the field once more.

Rick watches her go.

Xxx

It's after dinner and Rick has been waiting for Michonne to show up at the canteen to get hers, but she never did. In his mind he had planned out their conversation; he would thank her for the sword and for teaching Carl, and then they would get talking about how she learned. She would tell him something about her life before this, not something huge, but a small piece of the puzzle that was Michonne. When she didn't show up for dinner had to rework his plan.

Carrying two plates of canned food and some produce from the garden, Rick climbs the stairs to the guard tower and finds Michonne sitting there, in the exact same position that Rick had sat a week before.

She looks up and smiles half-heartedly as she sees him and the plates. "Room service?"

He nods and hands her the plate as he sits down, closer than he needs to. "Didn't see you at dinner, thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks." She waits as he pulls two forks out of his pocket and hands her one.

They eat in comfortable silence. He noticed that her foot inched closer to his as they chewed.

Xxx

Rick watches from the catwalk as Michonne and Carl practice on the lawn. It's been weeks since he'd given his son the katana, and he had to say Carl had really improved. Carl's eyes had lit up when Rick had first pulled out the sword and given it to him, his mouth falling open in awe. As though on cue Michonne had sidled up to the doorway and smiled as Carl took the sword into his hands to feel the weight of it. Rick and Michonne had shared a rare grin.

Since then they had been spending more and more time together. It had started as quick conversations between chores, then meal times. Soon she began to join him during his perimeter checks in the mornings. And nearly every evening they shared a meal in the watch tower, taking turns on who brought the food. Sometimes Carl joined them, but mostly it was just them two.

She wasn't much of a talker most of the time, which Rick didn't mind at all. Surprisingly, he valued their silences together almost as much as their conversations. Somehow they always avoided talking about their pasts. She never mentioned Andrea or her family, and he never brought up Lori.

Lori.

He felt guiltier as his- well… friendship- progressed with Michonne. He began to recognize feelings within himself that he hadn't felt in a very long time. In the more recent nights he had taken to falling asleep replaying his and Michonne's conversations, or remembering the way her dark dreadlocks fall across her shoulder when she turns her head. In these moments Lori's face would surface and he would very nearly cringe. He shouldn't be feeling this way towards another woman, his wife having not even been dead a year. But he couldn't help it. Grieving can't be done in the same way it was before this all happened. This is the world we live in.

"Hey!" A voice broke him out of his thoughts, "Hey dad, you okay up there?" Carl and Michonne were both looking up at him where he still stood in the catwalk. He shook his head hard.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Looking good down there!" He put on a grin, "Michonne could hardly keep up."

Carl laughs and Michonne pretends to scowl. "Let's not go crazy here." She says.

Carl runs on inside for lunch but Michonne waits for Rick in the courtyard. "He is getting pretty good, you know." Rick assures her as they walk inside together.

"He's a natural. Hell of a lot better than I was at his age." She says.

Rick turns and watches her for a second, before turning forward again. "You've been doing it that long?"

Her expression changes, almost as if she were closing herself off. She doesn't say anything, just nods. Rick understands that she has things in her past that she won't talk about, but he really wishes that she would.

Hershel comes walking towards them, his limp still present. He has a grave look on his face.

"What is it?" Rick asks.

Hershel sighs. "We lost two more today, Phil and Adam. Few of the others are looking in real bad shape."

Rick drags his hand roughly over his face and Michonne watches him, then he turns to Hershel and asks, "So the antibiotics, they're not working?"

He shakes his head. "There was some improvement, at first. But for the most part it just stalled the infection for a few days."

"Not the right stuff?" Michonne asks.

"Not enough of it. The pills aren't meant for treating such severe cases, at this stage they'd use intravenous."

Rick shifts his weight. "Injection, you mean."

Hershel nods.

There is silence between the three of them. Hershel breathes in as though steeling himself to say something. "There's more, Rick. It's Glenn. He's… he's not looking too good. He…" Hershel looks around, and Rick knows it's to make sure Maggie isn't near. "I reckon he doesn't have much time left."

Michonne's eyes dart from Hershel to Rick, whose face is stony but his eyes are glazed. She sees his lips quiver before he covers them with his hand and he strokes his beard. "And there's nothing you can do for him?" He tries so hard to keep his voice from shaking.

Hershel just stares at him sadly.

Michonne sees Rick's body slump slightly, like the breath had left him. "What about saline?" She asks.

Both men look at her. "Saline?" Hershel asks, "We'd never find any, and if we did it would long since have expired."

"But if it was unopened and in a cool and dry place, it might be okay to use. Right?" Michonne drums her fingers against her belt buckle. Hershel looks sceptical.

"I… I suppose. But again, where would we find perfectly preserved saline?"

Now Michonne turns directly to stare at Rick, "Weeks ago, when I was out looking for… I passed by a hospital. I found the blue print for it in the office, you know, to see if there was some hideout he might be holed up in." She glances quickly at her feet, as though ashamed at her thoroughness. "There was an underground store room that wasn't connected to the basement of the hospital. Some kind of shelter I guess." She looks to Hershel, "If there was a place with untouched saline in it, I'd guess it would be there."

Rick and Hershel stood, almost stunned. Rick didn't think he had ever heard her speak so much at once time. And best of all, she made sense. Hershel seems to think so too.

"How far away is this hospital?" He asks.

She thinks for a second, calculating in her mind. "I could make it there in a day if I rode through the night."

Rick blinked and shook his head. "Wait, wait a minute here. You're not going anywhere, not alone. I'll go with you."

"Like hell you will," She states matter of factly. "They need you here. Besides, I'd be faster on my own." She turns to Hershel, "I'll take one of the smaller cars, I can be back in a few days."

"Michonne, no!" Rick spits. The three fall silent again. Rick doesn't know why he was getting so upset; this could save Glenn's life, and dozens more. But why couldn't Michonne just tell someone else where the hospital was, Daryl maybe. She didn't have to go herself. That was an unnecessary risk for them to take.

Hershel clears his throat. "If you feel there could be saline in there, it's worth a shot." With that he leaves them and walks off to join the others eating lunch.

She stares at Rick intently. "You know I'd get it done quick."

"I know you would, just like I know someone else could if you told them where to go. You're more needed here, and..." He trails off. "You just got here."

Her eyes soften slightly. They stare at each other for a long time, longer than he can remember them doing before. Rick knows that she knows why he doesn't want her to go. That doesn't scare him, though.

"Rick…" She says, but she can't look at him as she says it.

This makes him feel bolder. He turns from her and stares out the dirty, barred windows that overlook the courtyard. "You know I really hate hospitals. Didn't really mind them before all this, but now…" He almost laughs, and then turns to look at her. "You know I was in a coma when all this started?"

She inhales sharply and shakes her head.

"Well, I was. Woke up in a hospital bed, and you could tell things weren't right... It feels kind of like a dream now, remembering it." He leans against the wall propped on one arm, the other hand hanging off his belt. "It's a goddamn miracle I found Carl and… and Lori." The irony struck him here, "Wouldn't have done if not for Glenn, he saved my ass."

Michonne remains silent. He kind of appreciates that.

"Seems like a lifetime ago, now." He laughs out loud, "Still wore my badge, like it fucking meant something."

Out of the corner of his eye he sees her give the tiniest cringe. "What?" He asks.

"Nothing," She shakes her head, "it's just…if you chose to wear it, it must have meant something."

He sneers. She doesn't know what she's talking about. "Yeah, right." Images of the past few years flash over his eyes. Riding into the city in his uniform on the horse, finding Lori and Carl. The center for disease control, the farmhouse. Shooting Shane. The prison, Woodbury. "I'm not that man anymore." He says this more to himself then to her.

Silence falls and she doesn't break it.

He turns to her. "So, we leave tomorrow. Sunrise?" He wasn't going to let her go alone.

She sighs heavily, blinks at him, then walks off.

Xxx

His alarm goes off. Its 4 o'clock in the morning and the sun hasn't risen yet. He had gotten his pack ready the night before, and he half expected Michonne to be waiting outside his cell for him by now. Rick gave her five more minutes, and then walked the short distance to her cell. He knew immediately that she had not slept there that night. What was more, her own pack was gone, as well as her katana. A sharp feeling stabs his stomach. Worry, anger, anxiety.

He runs to the courtyard where they keep the cars. Sure enough, the smallest one is gone. She had snuck out in the night and left him. Rick wasn't even surprised.


	2. Chapter 2

Xxx

One day passes. Then two. On the third morning after her departure Rick is livid. How dare she leave him – them - like this? Taken off in the middle of the night with one of their fastest cars, a can of gas and Daryl's bolt cutters. If she hadn't returned by tomorrow he was going to ask Daryl to go out with him and find her. He knew Daryl would do it, if not for him than for Michonne. He hadn't slept well, replaying their last conversation over and over in his mind, how could he not have foreseen her leaving like this? This was her M.O. So why did her absence get under his skin like this?

Rick was sitting in the guard tower, alone, on the evening of her third day of her absence. He was watching the place where he had seen her emerge from between the forest so many months before. With every flicker of the leaves in the wind he half expected her to stroll out of the brush again. He heard running steps from below.

"Dad! Dad, she's back!"

Rick bolted out of his place on the floor and ran down the steps two at a time. There had been a trance of panic in Carl's voice that he didn't like, and immediately after blasting through the doors out of the tower he sees why. The entrance gates were just being opened and he saw a red van being driven through, not the car Michonne had left in. A corner of the hood of the van was totalled, as though it had been in a collision. He could see that the back windows had been broken and sides severely dented.

He sprints to the car as it comes to a stop outside the second gates. The drivers' door is opening just as he arrives to it, and he sees Michonne step out. He knows at once that something is wrong with her because she stumbles out of the car and nearly falls over. Rick is there to catch her as she stumbles back, and he sees that there is a nasty gash along her forehead, and that she has small cuts all over her face and chest. Michonne had obviously been in the car when it had been struck.

Her glazed eyes locked onto his and she blinks. "Tell Hershel I got the saline."

With that she passes out and goes limp in Rick's arms. He lifts her up and into his arms and quickly carries her through the gates, Carl trailing after them, carrying her katana. Rick notices that it is covered in dried blood.

Xxx

Now Rick is sitting outside of Michonne's cell door, listening to her deep, sleeping breaths. Hershel had said that she has two cracked ribs and a concussion, but other than that is perfectly fine. Rick could have hugged him. Carl had sat with him for the first hour, but had gone off to get something to eat. He had asked his dad if he wanted anything, but Rick just shook his head.

Rick sat with his knees bent in front of him, his elbows resting on them. His head hung low and he kept running his hands over his face. If he had lost Michonne, if her injuries had been worse… but they weren't. He kept telling himself that. She would be fine. She came back to him.

He hears a stirring from within the room. He quickly turns and sees that she's lying on her side and watching him sit there, her face half obscured by the pillow. His breath catches and he gives a weak smile.

"Hi." She says, smirking.

He smirks too. "Hi."

She licks her lips and swallows, her mouth is obviously dry. He stands and enters the cell, grabbing a bottle of water that Hershel left on the table. She makes to sit up but he quickly kneels by the bed and gently pushes her back into the mattress. He is half surprised she lets him do this. Wordlessly he puts his hand at the back of her head, gently, and helps her sit up enough to pour some water into her mouth. She looks at him while he does this, their faces no more than a few inches apart. Rick can't remember a time where they were ever closer than this, and he feels that Michonne is noticing the same thing.

He can tell this vulnerability is making her uncomfortable, but he doesn't care too much. This is what she gets for leaving him for three days. "How you feeling?" He asks.

She swallows. "Sore." Michonne smiles again at him but he doesn't smile back time.

"What happened to you?" The worst possible scenarios had been running through his mind for hours and all he wanted was for her to calm them.

She inhales deeply. "I got there no problem, the night after I left." Rick knows that she is not going to apologize for leaving. "Parked the car a couple blocks off. Everything was working out; I found the doors to the shelter, they were chained up just like before, same lock too." He almost wanted to smile. Her brain worked well in this grizzly world; she noticed things that others wouldn't.

She continues, "Got in easily, it was just getting light so the walkers hadn't even noticed me. There weren't that many there, anyway." She scoffs, "Probably should have known there was something up."

Rick wasn't going to console her because he knows she doesn't want it. They both know it's useless.

"It wasn't a huge stash, but there were sterile needles, tubing, all that. Then in the back room I found the saline, it was stashed with a bunch of other medicine. There were bags of it, so I took a load and headed back to the car, to bring it around." She shakes her head, "These three guys were in the car when I got there, trying to hot wire it. They had this girl with them and she was screaming," Michonne purses her full lips, "They couldn't shut her up, she was going to bring every walker to them." She clears her throat. "They killed her, stabbed her in the head."

Rick leans closer, putting more weight on his arm resting on the mattress. He hoped this would come across as friendly, and not that he had been refraining from grabbing her hand.

"I crept around them and I killed them. Didn't take long." Michonne stares at him as though waiting for him to jump in and say something at this. When he doesn't, when all he does is stare back as her, she continues.

"I took the car to the hospital and started loading up. By now it was pretty late in the morning, almost noon I'd guess. I think I'm golden when I finish packing the car, and I'm out of there. Then, out of no where this fucking guy hits me. Some big-ass black Ford drives out of the bushes and t-bones me, pushes me off the road. I hit a tree." Rick raises his eye brows, "I was fine, though. Anyway, I got out and ran. They didn't even try to chase me, I guess they just took the medicine and drove off. When I came back the car it was empty and the tires were gone."

Rick can't see how she managed to get the supplies back.

Her face had gone blank, though, as though remembering what comes next was distasteful to her.

She had an air of unease as she continued "There were leaves on the road, so I could follow their tracks. Just a couple miles up was this makeshift camp-site." She pauses, "There was only a few of them."

He could tell she didn't want to talk about this, but he wanted to know. He prodded her on, "Where did you get the car from?"

"It was there too. They had transferred all the supplies into the van, so I hot-wired it. Had to wait till night, of course. Anyway, I didn't make it ten miles before they caught up. I had slashed the tires of their truck but I guess they had spares. They crashed into me again, tried to run me off the road. That's when I hurt my ribs," She blinks and sighs. "There was a loaded gun in the car. When they came up level with me I shot him. The truck flipped and I kept driving." Michonne finishes.

Rick absorbs the story he had just heard. He feels something very odd towards Michonne in this moment, and it isn't pity, or even lust. It was respect. He respected her for what she had done, knowing if he had been in her situation he wouldn't have acted any differently. He grimaces unintentionally at the thought.

She can see that he thinking this, thinking that he would have killed those men all the same, and that he doesn't feel guilty about it.

"Do you want to know what your problem is?" She asks.

He's taken aback. After all she had just shared, he had expected her to close off and turn away from him. "What?"

"You see everything as black and white now. You think you can only be one thing; a Sherriff, or a killer. Moral or immoral. But Rick…" She looks at him and exhales, "You can live in this world and kill, kill many people in many ways, and still be a good person. It's fucked, but as long as it's for those you love, I believe you shouldn't ever feel guilty about killing. Not any more."

Rick wasn't really sure what she was trying to say. Yes, he agreed with her, but why was she saying all of this to him, and why now?

"I found something for you." Michonne says. She reaches back behind her and winces. Rick's hands are immediately hovering above her, but she shows no more sign of needing him as her hand snakes into her back pocket. Rick's eyes widen when he sees a flash off gold in her hand.

She extends her dark hand towards him and gripped in it is a small, plastic Sherriff's badge. He stares at it for a long time before he takes it from her. It's warm from being so close to her body. It reminds him of one he had bought Carl for his Halloween costume years and years ago, long before the outbreak. He chuckles and closes his fist around the small oval, giving Michonne an amused and incredulous look.

She snickers too and shrugs from where she lies against the bed. "Just so you don't forget where you came from."

Xxx

The saline drips were working. Apparently the bags had been in good condition, so Hershel felt comfortable using them. Michonne had found enough supplies to actually allow for Hershel to use an I.V. drip. Deciding together, Rick and Hershel were not going to give the I.V. to the most sever cases, which were thankfully few in number, to make sure there was enough of it to last. Glenn, luckily, was not one of the most severe cases.

When she was well enough to walk, Michonne began receiving very warm welcomes wherever she went throughout the prison. Everyone knew that it had been she who had returned with the medicine, and Rick found it incredibly endearing that she shied away from this attention.

Xxx

Weeks passed and they once again fell into a rhythm. Only a few more graves were dug before the people who had been ill seemed to recover, though they were still quite weak. Rick had volunteered to dig the graves, and Michonne quickly offered her help. Glenn was healing fast, and he and Maggie hadn't been apart since he was first released from quarantine.

Rick and Carl were tilling in the field on a hot afternoon nearly a month after Michonne had left on her solo raid and returned with the saline and a concussion. Right now she was working on the east fence with a few of the others, and Rick kept seeing the flicker of her katana as it caught the sun light. There had been a build up of walkers over night again, and she and the others were working at bring them down. They would throw glances at each other; catch each other's eye, smile, and return to work.

It was as Rick watched her that he saw something outside the fence grab her attention. She lowers her sword and stares at something near the red metal gates of the entrance. Without a word to the others she heads along the fence towards the gate.

Curious, Rick puts down his hoe and he and Carl walk to the gate as well. He's stunned to see Michonne grab the rope and heave the heavy red doors open, and he picks up his pace. He and Carl reach her just as the gates open enough to see what she had been staring at. On the ground, placed directly in front of the gates, was a severed head in a tank.

Carl covered his mouth. Even from here Rick could make out the defining features of the head. It was a woman, and he skin was dark like Michonne's'. Michonne strode forward and swiftly picked up the tank. Rick strides to the gates and pull them closed, seeing that a few walkers had spotted them. He walks up to where Michonne is standing, looking into the tank. He grimaces hard when he sees the details of it. What looks like a cheap black wig had been sewn onto the scalp of the woman's head, and the wig was matted in what was obviously meant to be dreadlocks.

Rick watches as Michonne blinks, looking at the grotesque head float in the tank.

Xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: LEMONS. **

**Enjoy ;)**

Xxx

They have a meeting in the library of the prison. Daryl, Hershel, Glenn, Maggie, Rick and Michonne were all there, and the tank sat in the middle of the table. Though after the first few minutes Hershel threw a cloth over it.

They discussed how it was obviously the work of the Governor. The fact that it was a direct message meant for Michonne was only touched upon. Her silence from where she stood in the corner, removed from the conversation, concerned Rick. He could only imagine the things brewing inside that head right now and knew that none of them were good.

"If he sees me leave now, he'll follow." She says at last, after a silence had fallen over the group. Then she looks directly at Rick, "He wants me more than he wants you."

He stares back at her and shakes his head. No.

She looks to the group, "We have to assume he's working on his own, so I might be able to give you guys a few days. Enough for you to make a run and fortify-"

Rick cuts her off. "You can't possibly believe he would abandon the prison just for you?" This came out harsher than he had intended it, but his stomach was tight because of the candid way in which she spoke of leaving. Like it was decided. "He's coming regardless. You're safer here." The others nodded.

She shakes her head, "But if he knows I am out there on my own he will target me, which means he will be away from here. That would give you time to make a run for more weapons. There's still that department store up North, with the hunting section, you could make that." She says this last part to Daryl, and he nods.

"This is ridiculous," Rick almost shouts, "We could make that run with you here, it's only a few miles."

"Not if the Governor is outside waiting, what if he's found some new recruits?" She directs her attention again to the rest of the group, "You all know I'm right." And with that she turns and leaves the room.

Rick makes to stand from his chair and follow her, but Hershel steps in front of him. "Rick, I know you don't want to hear it, but Michonne might be right. We're short on ammo; we couldn't survive a gun fight like we had last time." He sighs, "I know you… care for her. We all do. But she might be the only person who could draw the Governor off."

Rick can't listen to this. The whole room is staring at him. He storms off.

Xxx

She's not in her cell, and he sees that she's already packed her rucksack. A wave of dread runs through him and he sprints to where the cars are kept, afraid she had just gone and left him without a word again. With a huge sigh of relief he saw that all the cars were parked and present. He stares around; racking his mind for where she might have gone. His eyes catch sight of the guard tower where they had taken to sharing their shifts.

Xxx

He walks in without knocking, but she doesn't look up from where she sits on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"You're an idiot if you leave." This was a mean thing to say, and he knew it. He didn't like the way it felt coming off his tongue, but he felt like it was the truth.

She sniffs. "Yeah, maybe. And maybe I stay and the Governor shows up, kills Carl and you just to get to me. I'm fucked either way."

It was making Rick angry to hear her talk like this, "I'm not just going to give you to him!"

"Why?!" She shouts at him, "You've done it before!"

This hurts him. She never brings up the fact that he had given her to Merle to bring to the Governor. He had half-hoped she never would.

Michonne angrily wipes at her face, and Rick sees that tears have spilled out of her dark and shining eyes. "I shouldn't be here, anyway. I don't belong with you people, I never have. I'm leaving tomorrow."

Rick's heart skips. He takes the few steps forward and kneels down directly in front of her. "No." He says.

She looks right at him, "Yes."

"You're not leaving." This wasn't a question.

"We both know it's more dangerous for everyone with me here." She leans forward and looks straight into his eyes. Rick feels an electric pulse run between them. He can feel her breath on his face. "I'll get you killed," She says. "I can't stay here."

Her face is so determined that it terrifies him. He sees in his minds eye her leaving, walking out the gates of the prison, her sword at her back, and not turning to see him watch her go. He would never see her again, he knew it.

She is about to speak, to argue, but he slams his palm against the hard concrete wall behind her head. "You are not leaving me!" He balls his hand into a fist and presses it so hard against the wall that his knuckles turn white. "I won't let you."

He is so close to her face now. She blinks but doesn't look away from his eyes. They stare at each other and Rick starts to breathe more heavily. He notices, without taking his eyes from hers, that her chest is rising and falling quickly, too.

She gives a small, weak sound of protest. "I have to."

And with that, he does the only thing that he can think of, the thing he has been thinking of for weeks now. He closes the space between them and kisses her full on the lips. Heat floods his face and chest and he puts both his hands on either sides of her face, feeling that her dark cheeks are flushed too. It takes only seconds for her to return the kiss and she does so, almost tentatively at first. He opens his mouth wide over hers, his tongue creeping out to touch hers. At this she responds with enthusiasm, raising one hand to grip the back of his neck, the other pressing hard against his back to bring his body closer to hers.

This is all the permission Rick needs. His left hand stays planted on her cheek, the other wanders down her neck, quickly grazing her breast, before griping her hip tightly. His lips follow the trail and he roughly kisses the length of her neck to her collarbone, before her full lips catch his again.

He shifts his position so that he is arched over her, him still on his knees. She accommodates this by moving under him, both hands now gripping his back, as she lies down. Rick immediately covers her with his body and their kiss becomes more heated.

One of his hands still holds the side of her face, pulling her closer to him; the other hand is flat against the concrete floor and is bearing most of his weight.

A breathless moan escapes her lips and Rick moans too. Fuck. He was so hard against his jeans it almost hurt. As they kiss one of her hands creeps up his shirt and she softly rubs his chest, her fingers curling around the hair there. The hand slowly, agonizingly, moves downward past his navel and catches at his belt.

They break apart and look at each other questioningly. Rick swallows hard, trying to catch his breath. He didn't want to stop, didn't think he could, but he had to look at Michonne to see her expression. Her face mirrors what he thinks his must look like; flushed and expectant. She swallows too, and then moves her hand under his pants, reaching deep. Rick's head falls into the crook of her neck as her soft hand wraps around his throbbing dick, and she inhales sharply at the feel of it. He has to tell himself to hold it together and not come right there.

He raises his head and looks at her again. Without words, he asks if she's sure. Michonne nods and licks her lips. Rick inhales and then sits up on his knees and starts unbuttoning his shirt. Her eyes light up and she quickly fumbles with his belt and zipper as she kicks off her boots. He rips his shirt over his head and grabs at the hem of her tank top. She squirms underneath him in an attempt to help get it off, the friction nearly pushing him over the edge. She wears a black sports bra underneath, and his eyes are drawn to her tight stomach. Fuck, she was perfect. Rick can't believe this is finally happening. So many times he had imagined this exact moment. In the more recent weeks, when they had really become closer to each other, he would think that she had imagined the same moments.

Rick leans down and trails tantalizing kisses from her collarbone, over the bra, and down her stomach. He tongues the skin just above the hem of her jeans before using one hand to undo them, the other cupping her firm breast and squeezing. He would have liked to have spent more time undressing her, but he could feel her anticipation and hunger for him, which he felt too. She raises her arms above her head as he pulls the sports bra off of her.

Her breasts were dark and perfect just like the rest of her, and Rick stared at her chest for a few long seconds before she leaned forward, grabbed his neck, and kissed him again. He lies on top of her, both hands bracing himself on either side of her head, and kisses her neck. He feels her hands on his hips, trying to push his pants and boxers down. Rick chuckles softly in her ear and reaches down to her own pants, quickly starting to pull at them too. Again, he kisses his way down her now bare torso and then places one tender kiss on the spot just below her navel, and then he grabs either side of her pants and pulls them down.

Michonne arches her back to allow Rick to pull them off her hips, and he snakes them down her legs before pulling them clean off and throwing them to the side. He just stares at her before him and breathes deeply, absorbing the scene. Every inch of her chocolate brown skin was exposed to him now; her ample lips, her small round breasts, the small patch of hair between her thighs.

She props herself up on her elbows and watches him watch her, obviously confident in her body. This sight made him want her so badly, he wasn't even sure how he had waited this long. He covers her naked body with his own and plants his lips onto her, kissing her ferociously. Michonne grabs at his jeans and pulls them roughly down, she then wraps her legs around his waist and uses her feet the push them past his knees.

Michonne grabs him by his hair and pulls his head back, angrily kissing at his exposed neck. He grabs one of her wrists and pins it behind her head, then finds her lips with his own again. One of her feet travels up and down the length of his leg as he puts his other hand between them to grab his cock. Rick looks at Michonne, who looks back and him expectantly and then smiles, her bare chest heaving. Rick smiles back, aligns himself with her, and thrusts in.

She gasps and wraps herself around him as he enters her fully, and he grunts at the warm feel of her. It had been so long, so long for him, that he had forgotten what this felt like. He moves slowly in her at first, one elbow resting by her head, bearing his weight, and the other hand snakes through her thick hair to grip her scalp. He brings her face to his as he kisses her again, thrusting in as he does it.

Rick quickly finds a rhythm. It is slow at first, but as Michonne claws red trails down his back he quickens his pace. He begins to thrust harder and deeper, loving the expression on Michonne's face when he did this. It wasn't pained, but her eyes were closed tight and she bit her lip to keep quiet. He wasn't doing so well on this front. With every thrust he would give a small grunt or moan, and her hard nails at his back weren't helping, though he wouldn't have told her to stop if his life depended on it.

Her thighs were wrapped tight around him, bringing her bent knees so high that they were nearly level with his shoulders. This allows for an even deeper entrance. Rick grabs one of her thighs and grips it hard, hard enough to bruise, and thrusts into her again and again. She lets out a quick moan and Rick moves his left hand to cup her cheek, and rubs his thumb along her swollen lips. She quickly takes it between her teeth and bites, not too hard, but just hard enough to keep her from moaning again.

This sight was pushing him over the edge. He could feel his quick release building inside him, and there was no point trying to stave it off for a few more seconds. He moves his hand from her upper thigh over to her wet clit, and starts rubbing. Immediately the grip of her legs tightened around him and she bit harder on his thumb. Michonne's hands travel up his back, one grabbing the back of his neck, the other tangling in his hair. She pulls him down towards her and their noses touch every time he thrusts forward. He can feel her hot, uneven breath on his face as she moans with every hard movement, and Rick thinks that he will never tire of that sound.

He feels her walls tighten around him and he knows she is at her release. Michonne gasps his name. Rick comes inside her with one final thrust and groan, and then goes limp overtop of her. Their chests heave as they work to catch their breaths, and he rests his forehead in the crook of her neck as he feels her breasts rise and fall under him. Her legs still encircle him and he doesn't want her to move them.

Still inside of her, he raises his head and grabs her face and looks deep into her eyes, his thumb tracing the line from her cheek to her lips. She puts both her hands on either side of his face, touching so softly that it almost tickled. They stare at each other, both breathing heavily.

"Please," He pants, "Please don't leave me."

She doesn't say anything; she just pulls Rick down towards her and kisses him.

Xxx

**Hope everyone enjoys this as much as Richonne did**


	4. Chapter 4

They get dressed in silence, throwing almost awkward glances at each other. Michonne bends to grab his shirt and throws it at him, smirking. He catches it against his bare chest and smiles back, relieved at the welcome humour. He had been worried that her silence had meant regret.

Michonne finishes dressing first and leans against the window as she watches Rick weave his belt through the loops. He feels her eyes burning into his, so he looks up. They share a look that is unlike any they have had before, so intense, and it brings up mixed feelings in Rick. It was both frenzied and satisfied. The way her mouth curved down, however, made his heart fall.

"I have to go." This is all she says.

They are on either side of the small inner room of the guard tower, and Rick knows that it would be useless to close the space between them. It would be useless to do anything in this moment; he knows that she has made up her mind. He thinks he knew even before they had had sex, knew that she would still leave. She was too stubborn not to. Rick's mind spins, his heart fluttering in a fit of raw emotions. He had just, _just, _gotten her, and now she was slipping through his fingers as he watched. Outwardly he remained relatively composed, but inside he was screaming.

"Tomorrow?" He asks gruffly.

She nods once and swallows. Rick knows that this is hard for her too; he can see the pain on her face even though she is trying so hard to mask it. She can't hide her shiny eyes, however.

He nods too. He feels as if an immense weight has been dropped on his shoulders and chest, and he has to consciously take a few steadying breaths before speaking again, "Will you meet me here again, tonight?"

Michonne doesn't hesitate before nodding vigorously, as though relieved that he had said it. "I'll bring the room service." She offers, smiling weakly.

Ricks brings both his hands up and rubs his face, hard. He lets them drop back down by his sides before saying, "You have to make me a promise."

Her face hardens, but she nods for him to continue.

"Promise me that when this is all over, when the Governor is taken care of, that you will come back," He pauses and shifts his weight awkwardly from foot to foot, "You know this is where you belong."

Michonne smiles as she suddenly takes the few steps separating them. Rick feels the tension in his chest ease slightly just at the sight of her coming towards him. She raises her hands and cups his face, and he leans into her touch.

"I promise you, I'll come back. I always do."

Rick leans forward so that their foreheads touch, and they stand this way for a long time in silence. He focuses on the sound and rhythm of her breaths.

Xxx

Michonne leaves to teach Carl his last katana lesson, and Rick goes to find Hershel and Daryl. He finds them in their cell block. They are of course unhappy to see Michonne go, but both agree that it is for the best. With Rick's mind still reeling from the experience he had just shared with Michonne and anxiety running through him that they would only have one more night together, he, Daryl and Hershel laid out a map and began planning the run up north.

Xxx

Rick felt sick. It has been hours since he and Michonne had parted, and for the entirety of their time apart Rick had brewed on the prospect of her leaving. He tried to work out every other possible option in his mind, but none came that would be persuasive enough to sway Michonne. He feels annoyed with her for her stubbornness, her selflessness. Rick tells himself that he is selfish, wanting to keep her here for his own motives, even if it put others in jeopardy. But that is not just it. His personal feelings for her aside, Michonne was a huge defensive asset to their group, and her absence would be marked if something were to happen within the walls of the prison. What if the walkers swarmed the fence again? What if the illness breaks out and there are more walkers from within the prison? What if the Governor _doesn't _want her more than he wants Rick?

Rick had gone to see Judith after his meeting with Daryl and Hershel. Beth, who has been looking after her, left the cell to go have a shower and Rick just sat with his daughter. He stared down at her tiny face, and she stared up at him with her big blue eyes. She looked so much like Carl had as a baby, and Rick's stomach churned at the memories that bubbled up inside. Lori, holding Carl for the first time. Lori, holding Carl's hand as he made his first attempts to stand on his own. Lori, sitting next to a wounded Carl where he lay unconscious on a bed.

Rick thought about Michonne. He didn't feel guilty for what he and Michonne had just done, and this confused him. He had expected that he would feel immense guilt if anything sexual were to happen between himself and Michonne, but all he felt now was empty. This beautiful, strong woman at last came within his reach and now she was being ripped from it. Rick felt such a strong loathing for the Governor in this moment that the hair at the back of his neck actually bristled.

Now he sits, once again, in the guard tower he so often frequents with Michonne. He waits for her to arrive, having gotten there much earlier than their agreed upon time. This was his attempt to prolong their last moments together, by drawing out his waiting for them. The thought that this time tomorrow she would be gone, away from him, hurt him so much. He blinks hurriedly as he hears footsteps ascending the staircase.

Rick looks over as she opens the door, two plates balanced on her arm. He thinks that she must have been a waitress at some time in her life, maybe while she put herself through college. He wasn't going to ask her, though.

"Hi." She says. This reminds him of their moment together when he had waited outside her cell after she had returned injured with the saline. Rick remembers the sight of her lying on the bed, looking at him. It feels like years ago now.

He gives her a weak smile, "Hi."

She enters the small room and closes the door behind her, the plates perfectly balanced the whole time. He watches as she comes closer and sits down directly in front of him, she hands him his plate and he takes it with a nod of thanks.

"You all ready to go?" He asks. His voice is hollow and dark and he sees her face harden.

She blinks and nods. "I'll take the jeep, it's already packed."

He laughs humourlessly. "Always prepared." She doesn't say anything. He moves the food on his plate around with his fork, but he doesn't take a bite. "So what's your plan, where are you going to go?"

Michonne watches her food too. "I was thinking I'd head east, to the city. It's swarming with walkers so with any luck he'd loose me. Then I'll loop around and track him from there." She sounded confident, and this eased his anxiety slightly.

"And if that doesn't work? If he doesn't follow you?"

Michonne looks up at him at last. He had been watching her intently, hoping to see uncertainty of indecision, anything that might indicate her staying here. There was none, however.

"Then I'll come back."

Rick inhales deeply and exhales, his shoulders slumping. There is silence between them for a long time. Neither of them really eats their meal, and finally Rick sets his plate aside. "I'm not going to say goodbye."

She puts her plate down too. "Good, neither will I."

He clasps his hands and brings them to his face, almost as though he were praying. "Because you're coming back. You'll come back."

She smirks, "Didn't I promise I would?"

He nods but his face remains straight. "Did you tell Carl you were leaving?"

Michonne nods too, "I promised him I'd bring back the next issue of his comic." She sighs, "He's a smart kid Rick, he understands."

Rick looks out the window behind her, his expression blank. "He's going to miss you."

"I'll miss him too," Michonne sits up on her knees and moves towards him. She moves into his lap and straddles him. "And I'll miss his dad."

Rick grabs her hips with both hands and squeezes. She lets her head droop and falls to the crook of his neck. She breaths in deeply and he feels her soft skin against his rough beard. She kisses the spot just below his ear, then kisses her way softly down his neck. He closes his eyes and tries to memorize the feel of her, absently rubbing her back. Michonne kisses his jaw line before pausing over his lips. Rick stares into her brown eyes, the white of them such a strong contrast against her beautiful dark skin. He sees that they are glossy. They stare at each other until she leans in and lets her forehead rest on his, her hands falling to his chest. This time between them, right here, felt so incredibly intimate.

Rick tries not to think about tomorrow or the day after that. He knows that in the days and weeks to come he will relive this moment again and again and be jealous of himself for living it now. Rick squeezes her hips harder.

She opens her eyes and looks at him again, "I didn't think I would ever feel this again, not in a world like this." Michonne pets his chest. "You surprised me, with how easy you made it." She looks guilty. "I'm sorry I have to leave. But… but Rick, I wouldn't recover if the Governor killed you or Carl because of me. I _know _he will come after me, and if he is with me he is away from you."

Rick shakes his head, "You know I don't want you to go, I won't change my mind on that. But if you are confident about this, than I trust you. I don't like it, but I trust that you can get this done."

"Thank you." She says softly. Then she chuckles to herself, "You know, I don't even remember when my feelings for you changed, when I realized I wanted you." Rick squeezes her hips again and she grinds seductively into his lap. "I just woke up one morning thinking about you. And that was it."

He nods, her words making him incredibly happy, "I've been waking up thinking of you for a long time now."

They smile at each other, two small smiles that were both happy and sad. Michonne raises her hands and holds his face again. She slowly brings her lips to hover above his and he hears her inhale.

The kiss starts out tender at first, intimate and soft. But as he snakes his hands under her shirt and grabs at the skin there the kiss becomes more heated. She moves her hips against his from where she sits straddling him. Rick raises her shirt over her head; she raises her arms to help. She then begins unbuttoning his shirt.

They slowly undress each other. Every action is followed by several long minutes of soft touches and kisses, so this takes a while. They are both drawing this out for as long as possible. At last they are both naked, their clothes thrown haphazardly around, and Rick is up on his knees, Michonne still on his lap straddling him. They grip each other hard as he moves inside her. Rick can feel her muscles clench around him as she moves herself up and down. She throws her head back as she rides him and he catches one of her breasts in his mouth and kisses and tongues at it. Michonne controls the rhythm now, being on top, and Rick was only too happy about this. The sex was slow and sensual, far different from their rough, hurried act earlier today.

Her arms are wrapped around his neck in a close embrace as she moves over him again and again, and Rick's arms are wrapped around her too. They couldn't be closer if they tried. His hips thrust upward to plunge deeper into her, her legs wrapped so tightly around his waist that it almost hurt. They kiss sloppily as they made love, their lips smashing together every time she lowered herself on to him.

Rick groans, he can feel his release coming. She feels so good, wrapped around him. He tries to stave off cuming by thinking about her leaving, but the feel of her around him was just too much. He breathlessly grabs her face with one hand, the other supporting her back as she moves on him. She knows he is about to finish so she grinds deeper and harder into his thrusts and quickens the rhythm. They both moan.

They finish together with one final thrust of Rick's hips. Still entwined around each other Rick kisses her neck and chest, her skin glazed in a sheen of sweat. She grabs him and kisses his face, everywhere but the lips. At last she pauses over them, licks her own, and then kisses him softly.

They sit like this, tangled together, for a very long time. They just stare at each other and kiss, both knowing that their time together was counting down.

This thought made Rick want to panic, to scream for her to stay in his arms. But he knows this will do no good. He feels helpless at his inability to convince her to stay. A thought came into his mind, and he acted on it.

"Michonne," He says, "I'm in love with you."

She looks at him and blinks.

He continues, "I think I have been for a long time."

He feels very vulnerable and exposed in this moment, both of them still naked. When she says nothing to this he shifts underneath her, suddenly feeling uneasy. He is about to speak again when she interrupts him.

"I had two daughters."

Rick looks at her face but she is looking down. He is stunned, he had never known, and he watches as a tear falls from her cheek onto his chest. His own eyes begin to well at the pain in her voice as she had said it, as though it were something to feel guilty about.

"They were just so young. I couldn't… I couldn't protect them. My youngest, Tyla, she died first. Got bitten when she was at school, it was so early in the outbreak that schools were still up and running. She was the first one I ever had to kill."

Rick's breath caught in his throat. The thought of having to kill Carl… he couldn't even imagine the pain. He could tell that she wanted to say this, to get this out, so he didn't interrupt. Instead he just held her tighter.

"Dania died just a few days later, I couldn't even get her out of the city." Michonne didn't wipe her tears away and showed no intention of doing so, so Rick raised one hand and wiped them gently for her with his thumb. She leans into his touch.

"I'm so sorry." He says.

She nods. "I know." Michonne sniffs, "When I lost them, everyone, and I saw what the world was becoming, I promised myself that I would never get attached to another person. It was just too painful to loose them. Then I found Andrea, and I remembered what it was like to talk to someone, to have friends. I fooled myself into thinking it could last. Just like I fooled myself into thinking that we could last."

This stung Rick, but he knew that she had not intended it this way.

"Hey," He says, grabbing her face, "We're not dead yet. I'll be waiting for you, for when you get back. We _can _last."

She gazes at him, imploringly. "Do you really think so?"

He nods yes. "We both just need to survive this thing."

Michonne nods too. She leans her forehead against his again and they both sigh. "I love you too, Rick Grimes." She whispers.

They fall asleep listening to each other breathe.

Xxx

He wakes up to the pale morning light streaming through the large windows of the guard tower. Rick notices that his jacket has been thrown over him like a blanket. He also notices that he is alone. True to her word, Michonne had not said goodbye. She must have left him in the very early hours of the morning, no doubt wanting to get an early start. That's what the Governor would have expected from her, so this is what she had done. Rick imagines her driving the jeep down a deserted road, the Governor behind her, following her tracks. He cringes at the thought.

Rick stands and gets dressed. When finished, he looks around longingly at the small concrete room. He tries to imagine the circumstance where they will meet again, hoping that that day is not too far off from this one. With a sad sigh he turns from the room and opens the door to leave. His chest heavy and his eyes stinging, he walks slowly down the stairs and heads back up to the prison.

Xxx

Phillip watches the tower in the early morning light. He had seen Michonne enter the night before, and watched for hours waiting for either one of them to exit, already knowing that Rick was inside. She had finally exited through the doors only an hour or two before sun rise and Phillip smiled to himself, knowing what they had been doing in there all night. So, Michonne had taken up with this Rick. He had not expected to see that, largely because he had always assumed that she was a dyke for Andrea.

Phillip watches from the trees as that greasy looking Daryl opens the gates and Michonne drives through them in a jeep, looking around her. He would have followed her, but the information that she was fucking Rick was just too great an opportunity to pass up. Instead of hurrying to his own car, parked just within the cover of the trees, Phillip chooses instead to plant himself at the foot of the nearest stump and watches the guard tower door, waiting for Rick to emerge. Phillip grins at the thought of Michonne's face when she returns to the prison and finds the scene he is going to leave for her. He'll hang Rick by the fence, and that little boy of his too. Maybe he'll skin them first. This would be his gift to Michonne until he can get his hands on her himself.

Phillip grins wide as he watches Rick exit the tower, his shoulders visibly hunched, and walk down the stairs and across the field.

Xxx

**Don't hate me guys; this is all part of the plan! So there will only be one or two more chapters, but I can assure you that they will be jam-packed with Richonne goodness. Please feel free to share this story over tumblr or whatever, because the lack of Richonne fics is truly upsetting! Thanks so much for reading, and review review review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**!Warning! Pretty gruesome scenes and racist and sexist language coming up. This is, of course, not intended to offend anyone. Please read and review! Slight change of POV too. **

Michonne drove fast, one hand on the wheel and the other arm leaning against the window. She kept her eyes on the road but periodically checks her rear view mirror when she's on a long stretch of road. She sees nothing. Michonne has been driving for about six hours, it now being around noon and she is feeling restless, her fingers drumming on the wheel. This was unlike her. She felt anxious.

Michonne had woken that morning on Rick's warm chest, and now she was hundreds of miles away. For at least half an hour she had stayed in that position, her head rising and falling with every breath he took. It was so warm nestled in the crook of his shoulder that she didn't think she could leave. Rick was right; she was an idiot for leaving. But she had too. Michonne knows what she's done, knows why the Governor wants her dead. She put down his daughter and is now was paying for it. She does not regret it, of course, the only regret is that she had not cut him down that day they saw the helicopter fall.

She thinks back to Rick. It had physically pained her to sit up and get dressed, her want to stay being that strong. After draping his coat over him, she paused at the door and the thought that she could still change her mind, still wake him up and tell him that she was staying, occurred to her. Michonne imagined his eyes crinkling as a grin spread across his weathered face. She shook her head to try and rid the thought, grabbed the handle, and walked out the door. Her eyes scanned the tree line but she saw nothing, and so she walked down to where Daryl was meeting her.

Michonne had chosen to ask Daryl to open the gate for her, not Rick. She did not want to look back and see him standing there, watching her go. The day earlier, when she had gone to the kitchens to get Rick and hers meals, she had met Daryl and told him of her plan. He nodded, scowling as though it were sunny, and asked if she's sure. She said yes. They agreed to meet in the parking lot where she already had the jeep all packed, just before sunrise.

Now she was driving down a narrow lane, about ten miles from the nearest highway. Michonne tries to focus on the road, tries to watch her mirrors, but Rick's face keeps appearing in her mind. She wishes so badly that she could have been there when he woke up, could have watched him get dressed again, they could have had breakfast together. But no, she had done the right thing by leaving. He and Carl were safe now, she told herself. Her plan would work however long it took. Then why did she feel so uneasy, why were her fingers drumming the wheel or her foot tapping the floor of the jeep? Michonne shakes her head to try and erase these thoughts. She was just upset about leaving them, that was all.

Michonne sees an all too familiar silhouette on the left side of the road, one shape leaning over another, eating it. She doesn't know why, but as she approaches it she slows down. As she comes closer her eyes widen and she comes to a stop, just a few feet and a metal door separating her from the walker kneeling on the curb.

The thin walker was male and wearing a police uniform. The dark navy was stained black with dried and fresh blood from the dog it was eating, and the walker's sagged and rotten skin gave it away as having turned many many months ago. As she stared at him, the walker lazily looks up from the exposed stomach of the dog, entrails hanging from his teeth. His cloudy eyes stare back at her, his jaw droops and rises grotesquely as he chews. The late afternoon sunlight catches the gold badge still pinned to his chest, the metal now dull and waxy looking. Michonne looks at the badge for a long time, anxiety bubbling in her stomach and up her throat.

The walker gazes dumbly at her as he swallows, then looks back down and grabs another fistful of meat and brings it to his gaping mouth. Blood spatters over the badge. Michonne blinks, then frowns and checks her mirrors again.

Xxx

It is late afternoon and Rick and Carl are in the garden. Carl's nibble fingers are quick at harvesting the bean pods, Rick's not so much. He tries not to gaze off into the tree line, half hoping that he will see Michonne walk into his sight, so much like the first time he had ever seen her. Rick knows Carl sees him do this, sees him stare off aimlessly, but his son doesn't say anything about it. Rick wants to talk to Carl about this, about him and Michonne, but he did not want to do this today. Today he would practise living at the prison without Michonne.

Daryl had taken Tyreese and Sasha on that run up north this morning; they had left just a little while after Michonne. This meant that Rick was on guard duty for the majority of the night, leaving him with even more waking time to replay his moments with Michonne. Not just the sexual ones, but the conversations they had shared as well. He felt as though a small part of him had up and vanished in the night, but he tries hard not to think on it.

Rick suddenly hears a scream and looks out over the field, as does Carl. The scream comes from outside the fences. His eyes quickly rake the area from which he heard the scream come, and he sees them.

A young woman with a child in her arms, a boy, who was screaming. She desperately tries to shush him but he wails and wails, and then she catches sight of them and screams too as she tries to step on her obviously injured leg.

"Please!" She wails, "Please help us!"

"Dad!" Carl yells, looking to his father. Rick takes off running towards the nearest break in the inner fence, Carl close on his heels.

The woman screams louder as she sees them approach. "Oh god, please help me!"

"You need to be quiet!" Rick shouted back. Luckily this patch of field was away from the largest clusters of walkers, but hers and the child's screams were quickly attracting them. Rick watches as a group no more than forty feet away turns and starts stumbling toward the pair.

"Dad, we have to do something!" Carl hisses.

Rick's mind whirs. Something isn't right about this; there is no way that this woman could have walked through these woods with a screaming infant and a hurt leg. That would have been impossible. Judging by her clothes she couldn't have been in the woods from more than a few days, they were too clean. Rick tries to calculate the best action to take.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Carl dart from his side and through the opening of the gate, and then sprints down the corridor created by the inner and outer fence.

"Carl!" Rick bellows, "Carl, get back here now!" He takes after him.

"They need help, we can get them, hurry!"

Carl wasn't listening to him. The boy runs to the place where they had cut a hole in the fence and bound it with wire, meant for quick access or escape. His nimble fingers make easy work of the bindings and he pushes through the opening, his sheriffs' hat falling off into the dirt. He pulls out his gun.

"Dad don't worry, I got them!" Carl sprints over the field toward them, the nearest walker still ten feet off. Rick takes out his gun.

Just as Carl reaches them two quick shots fire through the air and Rick flinches and blinks. He watches as the three figures, Carl, the girl and the child, all fall to the ground.

"Carl!" Rick screams, the sound tearing out of his throat. He reaches the opening in the fence and pushes himself through it, barely noticing the metal catching and tearing at the skin on his arms and neck.

The sight that greets him as he looks up stops Rick completely. To his horror, the Governor is holding Carl upright by the neck, a gun pointed at his temple. Carl was bleeding from the shoulder and it looked like he had been shot. Rick could see that his son was shaking. The two bodies of the girl and the child lie in the grass at Carl's feet, looking as though one bullet had passed through her neck and entered the head of the little boy. Walkers were approaching them now, slowly but surely. Rick tries to breath but it is as though the world no longer had oxygen. Angry tears well up in his eyes as he stares at Carl, who stares back at him, and the Governor smiles.

"Please," Rick begs, "Please don't hurt him. He has nothing to do with this."

The Governor grins wider and Rick sees him reach behind and pull a hunting knife out from his belt. He brings the knife to rest on the soft tissue just below Carl's right eye. Rick sees that Carl is breathing very quickly.

"I disagree," The Governor says lazily, "I think he has a fair bit to do with this."

Rick steps foreword but the Governor steps back, dragging Carl with him. "Now, now Rick. Don't do anything foolish here. I would hate to have to maim your boy out here in the open like this."

Rick swallows. "What do you want?"

The Governor laughs. "I want you to watch as I kill your boy, watch as I hang him from a tree. Then I want you to help me catch that cunt Michonne. You won't have to do much, seeing your body at the gates aught to do it. Then you're going to watch as I make that bitch of yours squeal." He presses the knife deeper into Carl's skin and Rick sees a bead of blood run down his cheek.

The walkers were too close now, but Rick couldn't move.

"Now drop your gun," Rick's lips quiver but he does this, "Good, now follow me."

Rick hears noises from inside the prison, shouts for him and Carl. He doesn't look back as he slowly follows the Governor into the tree line, watching Carl's face as he is lead backward. He knows Carl is trying to be strong, but he sees tears falling out of his wide eyes.

Xxx

They walk a long distance, Rick out in front at the Governors command with him and Carl in the rear. Rick glances back every couple of seconds to see the gun still pointed at his sons head and the knife still at his eye. At last, after what had to have been an hour of walking through the woods, they reached a small camp. There was a small, muddy truck parked in the middle and a fire pit not far from that.

"You," He says to Rick. "There is a pair of hand cuffs on the hood of the car. Cuff yourself to the grill."

Rick glares at him and doesn't move. The Governor presses his knife harder into Carl's face and blood really begins to flow.

"Alright!" The Governor sneers as Rick walks to the car and does what he is told, cuffing his left wrist to the car, though leaving the cuff as loose as possible. He didn't know what else to do. If he had acted then the Governor would have shot Carl. Rick's brain was working on overdrive. Oh god, please Jesus let Carl survive.

The Governor smirks. "You know, I've been alone for a long time now, haven't met anyone worth talking to. Those," He nods in the direction which they had come from, referring to the bodies of the girl and the young boy, "those can't be considered people. They were pathetic, couldn't even look after themselves! I found them on the road, can you believe that? Just walking, like they were going somewhere." He licks his lips and grins, and Rick's skin crawls, "The girl paid me how she could."

Rick's face crinkles with disgust. The girl can't have been more than fourteen.

The Governor laughs, "I know what you're thinking 'she was a child, how could I?', but I can tell you, there are plenty of things children will do in this world to survive. Now that's something your boy here has to learn."

Carl spits at the Governor's shoes.

"Carl!" Rick shouts. He begs god not to let his son die here, today.

The Governor gives a hearty laugh, "He's feisty! Maybe I'll keep him." He turns to Rick, "How would that make you feel, Rick? How would it make you feel to know that your son is traveling the country with a man like me, that I would make him do the things that a man like me does? I imagine a moral man such as yourself wouldn't care too much for it."

Rick remains silent. He prays for something to happen, anything that would allow Carl to survive this. He didn't care what happens to him, just as long as Carl made it through.

"Who knows, maybe I'll even let him do the honours when I find Michonne, and trust me when I say that I will find her. What do you think about that, boy?" He squeezes Carl's face hard with the hand that holds the knife, and Rick sees his son cringe in pain, "Would you like to have yourself a little dark meat?"

Rick's blood boils. Angry tears stream down his face but he can't do anything. He feels so fucking helpless. He can't believe that this is the end, not after everything they had seen and survived. He and his son couldn't die here, in the middle of the woods, murdered by a fucking lunatic. Plans flew through Rick's mind, each more desperate than the last. Any quick movement he made would result in Carls being shot, and then him. If he did nothing the Governor would eventually kill him and either kill or take Carl. Rick exhales, trying not to groan.

"No?" The Governor taunts Carl, who says nothing, "More for me then." In a movement as quick as a flash the Governor slashes at Carl's face and kicks his knee backward. Carl's gurgled yell fills the clearing as he crumples to the forest floor, his leg buckling under his own weight. Rick bellows swears at the Governor from where he is cuffed to the car and watches as Carl brings his hands to his face to stop the heavy bleeding.

The Governor strides toward Rick, leaving Carl to curl up on the ground. "You, on the other hand, I know you'd want a piece." He punches him hard in the ribs and Rick feels a crack. Another hard punch send him to his knees, his cuffed arm raised above him now. "I bet she's good too," He kicks again, "bet she sucks dick like only a whore knows how."

The Governor kicks him in the ribs and Rick feels them break, then the man leans down toward Rick on the ground as he holds his ribs, "Tell me, does she taste good?" He wages his tongue.

Rick spits in his face. Out of his peripherals he sees Carl stirring, so his instinct tells him to keep the Governor distracted. Maybe, just maybe, if Carl could get up and run he could make his way back to the prison.

The Governor wipes a hand down his face and scowls fiercely. "You really are a fucking idiot." He stands straight and knees Rick in the face. He feels his nose break and blood begins to flood out of his nostrils. He nearly chokes at the pain. Rick tries to take a breath but it is knocked out as the Governor kicks him hard in the chest with his steel-toed boots. Rick feels his shoulder pop as his arm comes out of its socket, his wrist still cuffed to the grill of the truck. Rick gives a yell, the sound muffled through the gushing blood.

Again and again the Governor hits him in his face and chest and kicks him in his ribs. The pain becomes so extreme that he has trouble even keeping his eyes open. He tries to focus on the spot where Carl had been, but whether he was gone or Rick was just too disoriented to see, he couldn't find him. The Governor didn't seem to notice.

"That's right you fucking bitch!" He hits him in the jaw, "I'll make you wish you were dead!" He hits him in the cheek, "But I'm not going to let you die, not until you've seen what I'm going to do to that precious nigger of yours! I bet you'll vomit when you see me inside her."

The Governor brings his foot down on his chest again and Rick doubles over, unable to breathe.

"And when I'm done, I'm going to cut you and your boy up in front of her. But don't worry I'm not going to kill her." He grins, "I'll keep her as my pet." Rick, somehow, raises his head enough to look at the man arched above him. "Now, let's get you up, wouldn't want to miss Michonne when she comes back. It's just too bad I lost that key," He nods to the handcuffs as he pulls the hunting knife out of his belt, "I suppose I'll just have to improvise." He raises his hand over Rick's cuffed wrist.

Rick cringes away as there is a swirl of silver. He sees a hand drop to the earthy floor. He feels warm blood spray over his face and chest and he looks up to the Governor holding the bleeding stump of his arm. Behind him, standing straight with her sword gripped in her hands, was Michonne.

The Governor turns, dumbstruck, and his sights fall on Michonne. She smiles at him.

"Phillip." She raises her katana and places it over his heart, the tip just creasing the fabric of his shirt. Slowly, she pushes harder. Rick hears the Governor gasp as the sword breaks his skin and enters his chest. Michonne, very slowly, pushes the sword in deeper, an almost indifferent expression on her face. Rick sees the point of the sword emerge out of his back, Michonne not even putting enough force behind it to piece the fabric. She was making this last.

Michonne brings her face close to the Governor's. "After all that talk… and now I'm the one inside you." She wrenches her sword up and out, and the sharp blade separates the Governor's shoulder from his neck. He crumples to the ground and blood flows freely from the gaping wound, quickly pooling in the earth. His eyes bulge as he raises his stump of an arm in a pathetic and reflexive attempt to stop the bleeding. His wet gasps fade out as he quickly bleeds to death.

Michonne is at Rick's side in a second. "Carl," He stammers, coughing on the blood in his mouth, "Where's Carl?"

"He's here, he's fine! I carried him behind the car." Her hands hover over his broken face and he sees that tears are falling from her dark eyes, "Jesus Christ Rick, we have to get you back."

He groans as she stands and hurries to the door of the truck. Rick tries not to fall unconscious as he hears her rummaging around in the back. His world is hazy and shaky and the corners of his sight are trimmed in black. He spits up a mouthful of blood.

Michonne returns and he sees a pair of bolt-cutters in her hands. "Rick, just hang on! I've got you." She quickly clips the metal loops linking the handcuffs and his arm falls heavily to his side. He screams as red hot pain courses through his entire body.

"Shit! Rick, put your arm around me!"

He is barely aware when she snakes his other arm around her shoulders and heaves up. He screams again, more viciously this time, as he feels his broken ribs shift under his skin. He could vomit it was so painful.

She unceremoniously drags him to the trunk of the truck and pushes him in, not stopping as his screams intensify. "I'm sorry!" She yells at him.

He remains conscious just long enough to hear her lift Carl into the car as well. He hears Carl ask about him. He can't make out her reply before he closes his eyes and the world goes black.

Xxx

**Hope this wasn't too graphic! I haven't read the comics but I know what happens, so even though I'm not including it I still wanted to show him as the absolutely abominable character that he is. **

**Please tell me what you guys think! I live for the reviews. There will most likely just be one chapter of this left, but who knows! **


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